


The Perks of Humanity

by MirroredApparition



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Bad Decisions, Character Study, Expect slow updates, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I just pretend that Gilver doesnt exist, On-Again/Off-Again Relationship, Real slow, References to the Light Novel, Slow Burn, Vergil name dropping like mad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:54:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24819499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MirroredApparition/pseuds/MirroredApparition
Summary: Set after the events of DMC3Dante’s having a difficult time letting the past be the past.But it seems he’s not the only one.
Relationships: Dante/Lady (Devil May Cry)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	The Perks of Humanity

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote parts of this fic over a year ago, but I liked the direction I took with it so I thought I’d dust it off and actually post it.
> 
> It’s probably foolish of me to put myself on another project, but this is something I’d like to see finished eventually. 
> 
> Even if it’ll take a loooong time. 
> 
> Anyway, the inspiration for this is that Dante’s life is messed up but the games never really linger on that too often. So I’ve come to be the change I want to see.

Cleaning up the Temen Ni Gru incident turned out to be much more of a hassle than Dante was prepared to deal with. Not only did he have to find the cash to rebuild his crumbled office, but everything the demons had wrecked in the process. While he certainly didn't help ease the collateral damage, he really didn't think he deserved to be yelled at for being absolutely broke as a result of it. 

He had a rough month, emotionally and financially, and he sure as hell didn't have the patience for some freelance agent to come pound on his door and pester him for money. Dante sat at his desk with a grimace stretching down his youthful features, getting an earful from his long past associate's hysteric griping. 

"You really sayin' you ain't got a penny to your name? Look at this place Tony! A pool table, a jukebox, and..."The short man squinted at the corner where his lithe companion lounged on his plush sofa. "Is that a drum set? That's new to me! You got this shop decked out like a fuckin' thirteen year old boy's wet dream!"

He craned his head over to the person he came in with, a tall gorgeous spectacled woman dressed even more extravagantly than Dante. "He ain't got cash he says!" He shouted mockingly as he pointed a thumb at the worn out demon slayer.

"Didn't you hear the news Enzo? The giant tower erected in the middle of town, the thousands of inexplicable cases of property damage? Last I checked, there isn't an insurance policy on demon invasions. So cut me some slack, I'm trying to recover from that big mess." 

Enzo only sneered at his honest attempt at an excuse. He sighed leaning back in his chair, "And the name's Dante now, like I've told you a million times before." 

The older man slammed his grubby fist down on his table "I don't give two shits what you call yourself! Dante, Tony, you're still the same asshole that owes me thirty grand!" 

There was lilt in his heavily bostonian accented voice at the last syllables, he almost pitied the poor bastard, he must've really needed the money. Dante sighed, he wasn't going away without a fight. Enzo may have been abrasive and contemptuous, but he was a coward through and through. And he suspected that woman was his weight to throw around if he couldn't get what he wanted from negotiating, if the exchange could truly be called such. 

"Whaddya want me to say, huh? I can't give you something I don't have, besides--didn't you quit a month ago? Y'know, right after that tower appeared?" The weasel conveniently skipped town the very next day, he wasn't sure he could feel that much sympathy for him after all. "Look, I'll pay you back once my business starts rolling, but right now I just can't--"

"Your business!" Enzo interjected, clumsily jolting up from his chair

"Your business that I paid for! Remember that Tony? You needed a loan for this shit hole office, and bein' the generous man I am, I let your sorry ass have it. Now I need the money back, and you're sayin' you won't do it." 

The man shook his head, looking like he was about to give up. Relief was so close to releasing the tension from his nerves, but he knew there was still more to this.

"Last chance, before you and my _friend_ here have a problem." 

Now that sounded like fun, just as long as they took it outside. As carefree as the half demon was, he really didn't want to pay for his equipment a third time. In his excitement, his right hand clutched Ivory hanging from its holster on his back. Dante looked up at the imposing woman, swaying her broad hips as she walked closer to the two men across the room. She seemed fascinated with his setup, dusting her fingertips along the edge of his pool table. 

Finally, she turned her head to look at him, her gaze piercing through him, appraising the young demon with a fierce stare. There was an unfamiliar power that seemed to roll off of her, and he had to admit it ignited something inside him, he was ready for a fight if she was willing to put one up. It ended abruptly, she turned her sights back to Enzo.

"Is there a problem?"The bewitching woman spoke with upscale tone to her voice, placing her fingers on her face. "No reason to use force if you don't get anything from him, Enzo."

Dante briefly closed his eyes with a smirk, relaxing his grip on Ivory. 

_Damn_ , and he was really hoping he'd be able to see what she could do.

Although, Enzo was a lot more disappointed with the outcome than he was. He turned to the woman, as if he'd been betrayed "How're you takin' his side? I thought you said you were ready to knock some heads?!" 

She let her attention float down to her gloved hand, suddenly disinterested in Enzo's words. "It's simply senseless. As fun as it'd be to take on a demon, I'll have to decline."

The portly man's eyes widened 

"De-

Demon?!"

For as long as he knew Dante, he never figured that one out. He gave the older man a sly wink. 

"I'll take it we'll be going now," 

The woman chided, planting her palm flush on her hip. "Farewell, Mister Dante."  
She offered him a wave of her fingers before heading out of his office. 

All the bravado Enzo started with was pulled right out of him. 

"I've gotta family Tony," He started, a quaking sensation in his voice. "Wife an' kids, maybe a monster like you wouldn't understand, but--"

The weak hearted man began stammering back."If ya gotta heart somewhere in that black soul of yours, you'd know that I'd really need that money back." 

_Black soul?_

Dante bit the inside of his cheek, "I'll pay you back Enzo, first chance I get." 

Enzo let out a sigh before turning tail right out his door, bumping into someone that was coming through. He sure wasn't in the mood for apologizes, rushing passed them to finally be free of Dante's little piece of hell. In all his years, the last thing he considered himself was sensitive. After everything that happened at Temen Ni Gru, hell, even reaching as far back to his childhood, family was something he held dear. For Enzo to undermine him like that, call him a monster, it didn't sit well with him. 

A hand crashing down on his desk jolted him out of his thoughts, he quickly looked up to see the woman he met over a month ago. He called her 'Lady', evidently that's what she was calling herself now too. It was something he didn't question, he was sure he knew her real name, but he wouldn't pry too much considering the debt he owed her already. 

"Can you believe that?" He let out with a laugh. 

Even if it wasn't genuine, he tried his best to get over any and all oppressing feelings dwelling in his _black heart_ with a sense of humor. "The guy quits on me just to beg for cash soon as the dust settles."

Lady's lips curved into a smile "I say good riddance."

Frustrating as it was, Dante was quite sentimental for someone that was less empathetic than the average human, but he could say without a doubt he would never miss Enzo. Not by a long shot. 

"Seriously."

Now Lady, she was company he didn't mind. Hell, she may have been the only company he regularly had these days. She started to visit his shop more frequently as of late, coming by once every few days to check up on his light workload. Sometimes they'd talk, like friends would. And he hated to admit that he really needed a friend right about now, but Lady kept him going through the piling debt, the haunting fresh memories of his estranged brother falling to his doom right before him. 

Maybe she knew he needed someone, anyone to talk to. After all, if anyone could understand what he'd been through, it was her. 

"I'm guessing it's been a slow business week then."

Dante gave a passive shrug in reply. "Just my rotten luck."

It was hard enough to keep his head right with the ghostly image of Vergil searing its way into his mind every five minutes, let alone the stacking bills. Optimism was hardly something that came easy to him, but it was the only way forward, he learned that years ago. 

"Maybe I could help you out, looks like you might need all the help you can get."

  
She was right, she was always right. Without someone else, he doubted he could make this business work. His lonely life of starting over and over again every few months was over. The shop was everything to him, even if he barely got any work, it was better than being a nomad that only spread disaster everywhere he went. He was nearly 19 years of age, and he supposed it was time to start acting like an adult, settle down and build a legacy of his own. 

"I'm certainly open to suggestions."

Lady scoffed, leaning her side on the edge of his desk. "Let's start with replacing the agent that just walked out on you."

That was a great start, he hadn't realized how eager he was to get rid of everything reminding him of the days he traipsed around as Tony Redgrave, the razor tongued teenaged mercenary. Frankly, he was excessively terrible at that job. Many times being reminded the whole point of a grand majority of the bounties he picked up was to kill the target, not rough them up until they were petrified to step foot outside. He never wanted to kill humans, the people his father fought to protect, the people his mother held so dear. 

He was getting far too sidetracked with his thoughts, evident in the way Lady snapped her fingers in front of his face. 

"I'm listening." He reassured with a smile, leaning his cheek into his palm. 

"I have a few numbers you should call, and of course," Lady stole a pen off his desk, pulling a napkin out of her pocket and scribbling a long line of numbers on it. "You can call me too. Might not always answer, though."

It was hard not to notice everything she was doing for him recently, he probably wouldn't have picked up any jobs without her help. Being a couple years younger than him, he was surprised how much more capable she was at managing a business than he was. 

"Professional only, I'm sure." He joked, but she shook her head, a small smile on her face. 

"For anything, just don't call me in the middle of the night. A girl needs her beauty sleep." There was something about her offer that lightened the weight in his chest. Strangely, she'd been having this effect on him whenever she visited, for however shortly their meetings went. 

The distraction was more than appreciated. 

She slid over the napkin and a crumpled up piece of paper to him. Unwrapping it, he saw a long list of names and numbers. "You sure know your stuff, Lady."

She shot him a look, and peeled her eyes away to the other side of the room.

"Gotta have connections." Her expression became downtrodden. "Something my father taught me." 

And he assumed those connections were once Arkham's. Perhaps she was doing too much for him. Curling the thin paper in his fingers, he gave her a wide smile. 

"Lucky us your father was such a nutcase."   
  
Her sights turned back to him, eyebrows knit with a distinct sorrow, and he thought that maybe he'd be better off inheriting his mother's endless empathy right about now. 

"Yeah...lucky us."

Mindfulness wasn't exactly a quality of his, and he knew he had to say something. Something kinder, gentler. 

"It's the least he could do for you."

Lady seemed to agree, dropping her head, lining the scar on her leg with her fingers.

"Dante," She sounded so vulnerable, so open to him. But he supposed there was no reason to hide her feelings, he saw them unfold as they were happening. 

"Nows a good time as any to drop the subject."Dante pocketed her notes and swiftly stood. "Let's order a pizza, forget about the bills for now."

It was really just a comfort for him and only him, Lady seemed rather reluctant.

"That's okay." She was hesitating. "I want to talk about it, about him." 

Dante's shoulders dropped, reaching for his phone, his fingers automatically dialing the local pizzeria's phone number. "No reason we can't talk it over with some food---"

She harshly grabbed his hand, quickly stopping his motions. He could easily break out of it, she probably knew he could, but he let it go. Relaxing his fingers, he directed his icy blue eyes back to Lady. 

"It's driving me insane. I don't know who else to talk to, it seems like you're the only one in the world that would understand." The grip on his wrist softened "Do you miss him? Vergil?"

Hearing his name sent a shiver down his spine. Missing him was a grand understatement, he felt part of himself wither away and die with Vergil. Dante learned to live without him, he learned to move on, and he learned that even if he wanted him back there were greater things at stake.

"Yeah."

His brother needed to be stopped, so with his hand, he put an end to it. And not a day went by where he didn't think of how he could've reached further, grab him by his collar and keep him from falling into the shallow end of hell. Because there had to be something he could have done, to save Vergil, to be a family again. There had to be.

"So you know what it feels like, to be so lost...confused." Lady fit her hand in his, tightly entwining their fingers "I keep hoping I'll come home and--my mother will be there, greeting me with a smile. And I'd hold onto her, I'd never let go."

"My father would be there too, just like it always was. How I remembered it." He felt her hand crawl up his shoulder as she bowed her head into his chest. "I thought I hated him. With every fiber of my being." 

Dante didn't dare move. Not to hold her, or break apart from her, he was stuck. And maybe it was the best option, she was hurting, the same way he was. 

"You know you did the right thing." He started, "We both did."

Of course she knew, it didn't make her feelings vanish to justly kill a family member, he knew that too. With a scoff, he ushered on, 

"I had dreams like that too, My mother meant the world to me, before she..."

He held her hand a little tighter. Not even ten years later could he say it.

"When I think back, I can barely remember what my dad used to look like. All that comes to mind is my mother’s face--when she told me and Vergil he was never coming back."

This wasn't right, he didn't mean to hold her, he was supposed to stay still. At the very least the desk separated them from getting too close. But he didn't want to be so far from her, the warmth of her hand in his made it easier to confess everything that had been on his mind. 

To say it out loud after so long was almost liberating 

"I can't stop thinking about her, I can't stop thinking about Vergil."

Lady looked back up at him. "How do you get through it?"

He didn't.

It wasn't his style to admit defeat so easily, so he gave Lady a smirk.

"I've got a pretty good sense of humor. " It was a cope, and never a real solution. 

Maybe now that he told someone, he'd feel lighter, a sense of accomplishment, _belonging_. 

"I'm sure the demon slaying and junk food help a lot too."   
  
Dante tilted his head toward the ceiling with a soft laugh "Does it ever."

He had to force himself to move away from her, the healing presence of her touch was difficult to let go of, and the fleeting notion of wanting more of it scared the hell out of him.

"So, pizza? Maybe a couple beers? It'll be my treat."

Lady nodded, shifting herself off his desk. They were both too young to drink by law, but considering the tumultuous state of their lives at this point, they needed all the distractions they could get.

"Do you think..." The younger woman trailed off, her mind still keenly locked on her father. "Is it normal to feel like this?"

Dante gave a pat to her shoulder " We’re not exactly normal people, Lady.”

He wondered if he could even consider himself as a person, if he could only ever be half of one.

“That's his fault.” He heard Lady say softly, her cadence betraying the words she spoke.

"Arkham was scum." The fierce tone in her voice returned, laced with passionate hatred. "But...he was still my father. I'll never forgive him, even though so much of me is begging to."

It was as if they shared the same heart, he nearly felt the same for his brother. Although, he'd have to admit he never once felt hatred for him. Jealousy, anger, contempt even, but nothing he did could ever take away what his twin brother meant to him.

" I'll always feel this way, won't I?"

Dante didn't have an answer for her. 

"I know I will." He said under his breath.

Lady's gaze at him changed, the sadness washed off of her features replaced with a dim light of hope, expectation. "Dante,"

The way she said his name so softly made him think there really was a heart in that black soul of his.

"Do me a favor, I want to hear you say my name...my real name."

He gave her a perplexed look planting his hands at either side of his waist.   
"Your name...?"

It was tempting.

"You never told me your name."

_Mary…_

He heard Arkham say it. From his perspective, he liked his name for her better. Dismissive as it was at first, it was a perfect fit, he thought. 

"Far as I'm concerned you'll always be Lady."

Her expression softened, and she closed her eyes with a smile. "That's right."

She was having doubts, it wasn't his place to let her entertain them. Dante impatiently scaled his fingers back to his phone. 

"Now can we get something to eat and lighten up a little? I can't think straight on an empty stomach."

She let him dial , folding her arms and shifting her hip out. "No pepperoni this time.”

Dante waved a dismissive hand at her as he put the phone up to his ear. 

"You're no fun."

The rest of the night was almost like a blur. He could hardly remember the details the morning after, but he knew it had to have gotten wild as apparent with his things smashed up in the wake of it all. At some point the beers must have gotten out of hand, leaving Lady and Dante completely blackout drunk, laughing their asses off at every little thing, talking for hours on end. It'd been the best night they had in months, bookended with Lady passing out on his couch, and Dante finally having a restful night of sleep without waking from a nightmare. 

For a second, he thought he could get very comfortable with his new life.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This doesn’t count as a crossover because Bayo only shows up here and never again.  
> Cause I thought it’d be funny.


End file.
